Good old “Lyin’ Ted” Cruz (TP – Texas) is suing the Federal Election Commission seeking to invalidate a law limiting the ability of  candidates to use contributions repay his or her loans to the campaign.   Part of the landmark McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform placed limits on the ability of candidates to repay their loans from political contributions.  Roughly speaking, a candidate cannot repay more than $250,000 to himself or herself with money raised after the election.  It appears that Cruz loaned his campaign directly or indirectly about $260,000 and was repaid $250,000.  That means this suit is over the grand sum of $10,000.  Cruz claims that the law is a violation of his First Amendment right to free speech and given the Supreme Court’s conclusion that $ = Speech, Cruz may be on to something.  The consequences of a favorable ruling for the Tea Party favorite could be interesting.  A candidate could place a huge bet on his or her success and then have unlimited ability to use elected office to repay that winning bet from the well-heeled donors seeking favorable treatment. In any event – given the amount involved – maybe LT is due for a new nickname.  How about “Penny Ante” Ted?